Amyre Makupson

Amyre Makupson (born Sept. 30, 1947 in River Rouge, Mich.) is a former news anchor and Director of Public Affairs at WKBD-TV in Detroit.

Makupson held positions at WSM-TV in Nashville and WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. before moving back to Detroit in 1975 to work as director of public relations for Head Start, the Michigan Health Maintenance Organization. That same year, Makupson was hired by WGPR-TV, the nation's first African American owned television station, to anchor Big City News and the Detroit focused talk show Porterhouse. [http://www.covenanthousemi.org/board/member.php?mid=11]

In 1977, Makupson joined WKBD-TV as news anchor and public affairs director. At WKBD-TV, she hosted Morning Break, the station's daily talk show, and produced and anchored a five-minute newsbreak. In 1985, Makupson co-anchored WKBD's Ten O'Clock News and anchored Eyewitness News at 11 on WKBD's sister station, WWJ-TV. [http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=1061&category=mediaMakers]

Her parents, Dr. Rudolph Hannibal and Amyre Ann Porche Porter, sent her to Detroit's Visitation Catholic Elementary School and she graduated from St. Mary's Academy High School in Monroe, Michigan in1965. She earned her B.A. degree in dramatics and speech from Fisk University in 1970 and her M.A. degree in speech arts/communications theory from American University in 1972.

She recently acted in a local play in Detroit [http://www.pridesource.com/article.shtml?article=5336] and wrote a book about death [http://www.buy.com/prod/so-what-s-next/q/loc/106/31060500.html] .

She was nominated for an Exemplary Volunteer Service Award by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2007. [http://www.michigan.gov/firstgentleman/0,1607,7-178--167572--,00.html]